Ownership isn’t important, it’s the ONLY thing.

Risk equals reward. “An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay” is not risk-taking.

If you work in my business, I’ll pay you fairly, try to make it a great place to work in, incentivize you if it makes sense for the company to do so, contribute to your pension, perhaps contribute to your health care and the health care of your family, teach you to grow your skills and thereby improve your personal net worth, ensure you have paidvacations, ensure you are not bullied or in any way discriminated against, and concern myself with yout personal safety at work.

I will do all these wonderful things in a thoughful and consisten manner. But I will not share out the pie with you when I sell the business.

There are exceptions, of course. Important ones.

Very senior managers who turned down atttractive offers from elsewhere to stay with the company and grow it.
Very long-term employees or those who were crucial to your success.

But remember the risk-reward relation mentioned above… when you determine the size of the piece of pie you give them.

-How to get rich, p.198